Dec. 31, 2007

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - James Madison snapped their four-game losing streak while extending Wagner's skid to nine games with a convincing 100-48 win in the third and final game of the Wagner Holiday Classic at the Spiro Sports Center. With the victory, JMU is now 7-4 while the Seahawks fall to 2-9.

Wagner forced JMU into six-straight missed shots to start the game and trailed just 6-4 with 14:46 to go at the first media timeout. After the 75-second break the Dukes woke up, ripping off 17-straight points over 4:11 while taking an insurmountable 23-4 lead with 10:33 to go in the half. Freshman Ashley Olsen (Staten Island, NY / Notre Dame Academy) stopped the bleeding with a three pointer on the next possession. A few minutes later sophomore Naomi Augustin (Valley Steam, NY / Valley Stream Central) hit a three of her own to cut the deficit to 18 points at 28-10 with 8:21 remaining. That would be as close as Wagner would get the rest of the way with James Madison closing out the first with a 22-9 run, good for a 50-19 lead.

After missing their first six shots of the game, JMU hit on 62.9 percent of their shots (17-27) in the decisive stanza and dominated the Seahawks in points in the paint (28-4) and second-chance points (21-2). The Seahawks also hit on just 29.4 percent (5-27) of their shots while getting outrebounded 32-10, including 15-5 on the offensive end.

In the second half, the Seahawks offense came to life shooting a solid 41.7 percent (10-24) while scoring 29 points. Unfortunately for the Green & White, the Dukes were up to the challenge matching their first-half output with 50 points, on 61.3 percent shooting (19-31). The 100 points are the most given up by the Seahawks since Nov. 29, 1988 when the Green & White yielded 103 to Saint Peter's.

For the game James Madison hit on 56.3 percent of their shots (36-64), including 50.0 percent (7-14) from three-point land after failing to knock down at least one in their loss to Pitt in game one of the Holiday Classic. Wagner, meanwhile, shot 29.4 percent (15-51) and was outrebounded 50-21, leading to a 32-2 difference in second-chance points.

Preseason CAA Player of the Year and WNBA prospect Tamera Young led five double-digit scorers for the Dukes with a game-high 22 points.

Olsen paced Wagner in scoring for the third time this year with nine points while senior Ali Ridge (Barrington, IL / Fremd) notched eight points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Augustin chipped in with seven markers to pace the bench, which matched the starters with 24 points.

Wagner returns to Northeast Conference (NEC) action at Sacred Heart on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 2 pm.